by Beevis, Keri
Judith wavered for a moment, but after everything that had happened, Lila knew her letting them walk out of the house alive would not be an option. Still she continued to plead, even as she watched Judith take charge of the situation, shocked how the woman she had perceived as meek and fragile transformed before her eyes. There was a hardness about her that Lila hadn’t seen before and, from the things she said to Aaron, it was clear she would do anything to protect him.
Jack was unconscious and Lila wasn’t sure if he was even breathing. The pool of blood from the wound in his head, that had soaked her hands and her dress, scared the hell out of her. He had come after her, had tried to save her life, and she couldn’t lose him. She needed to find something to bandage the wound, stem the blood flow, and she glanced around the room, spotting a football scarf hanging over the back of the chair at the computer desk. It wasn’t perfect, but it would do. Easing Jack’s head off her lap, she reached for the scarf, startled when Judith grabbed hold of her, jerking her back, easily overpowering her as she pinned her face down on the floor.
‘What are you doing?’ Lila pleaded. ‘He’s bleeding everywhere. I need to stop it!’
As she struggled to get free, Aaron threw his mother the rope that was on the bed, and Judith retied Lila’s hands behind her back. The strength of the woman scared her; made her realise that the frightened little bird act was just for show.
And then she was being pulled away from Jack, crying out in agony, as Judith grabbed a handful of her hair and dragged her out of the bedroom, down the stairs, and along the hallway to a closed door. Judith loosened her grip briefly to open it then pushed Lila into the room and down another set of steps.
She left Lila on the floor, disappearing back up the stairs and turning off the light before shutting and locking the door.
What were they going to do with Jack?
Lila screamed out for Judith to come back, to please let them go, but no-one answered her, and eventually her voice became hoarse from yelling. The house was remote and no-one was going to hear her. She needed to save her energy. Still it terrified her what might be happening upstairs. Was Jack already dead? And if he was unconscious, did Judith plan to kill him before he woke, knowing he would be harder for her to subdue?
Lila glanced around the room, her eyes gradually adjusting to the darkness. Aaron had called the basement a games room, and true it had a pool table and what looked like a darts board on the wall, and there was a wide sofa scattered with cushions on the far side of the room, but essentially it was no more than a cellar with a stone floor and brick walls. Shona McNamara had spent five days locked in this room and Lila knew the young girl would have experienced the same terror she was going through.
When Jack had shown up, she had been convinced the nightmare was over. If anything it had gotten worse. As she sat in the darkness, unable to stop thinking about what Judith had planned for her, she heard the sound of the door unlocking again, peered up as light spilt on to the room, seeing Judith and Aaron coming down the stairs. They were moving slowly, struggling between them to carry something, and as they neared the bottom step, Lila realised it was Jack.
Was he alive?
She pleaded with Judith again, begged her to listen to reason, but the woman ignored her, heading straight back for the stairs the moment they had put Jack on the ground. Aaron glanced down at her, managed a grin though it looked almost grotesque with his puffy face.
‘I’ll pop back later and see how you’re doing,’ he told her suggestively.
‘Aaron!’
He glanced sheepishly at his mother, quickly followed her back up the stairs. Lila heard the door slam and lock, was again in darkness.
She shuffled her way over to where Jack was and twisted around so her back was facing him and she could touch him. He was motionless and his skin was cool, but not dead cold. That said; Lila had no idea how long it took for rigor mortis to set in. She reached for his hands, realised they were pulled behind his back and bound the same as hers. She couldn’t feel past the rope for a pulse, but guessed Judith wouldn’t have tied him up unless he was alive. Still, Lila felt along his body and up to his neck, needing to be sure he was still with her, breathing out a sigh of relief when her fingers picked up on the faintest beat.
‘Jack? Can you hear me?’
There was no reaction and she suspected his head injury was serious, knew he had to have it looked at soon.
Was his phone in his pocket?
She checked, each movement taking such a ridiculously long time, frustrated when she found both pockets empty. Of course Judith would have removed his phone. The woman was not stupid.
All this time Lila had been convinced Richard Gruger had been her tormentor. Of course it had made no sense. He had pulled her from Filby Broad. Why would he save her life and then try to kill her? Lila didn’t particularly like the man, but it seemed she had him wrong and he had played no part in Shona and Phoebe’s deaths, and she suspected he had no idea what kind of monster Aaron truly was or the lengths Judith would go to in order to protect their son.
How had Stephanie been caught up in this mess too? Lila knew she had gone to see The Bishop on the night of the accident. Had she actually met up with Aaron and maybe seen something that had made her flee the house? Or had it all been a coincidence?
Feeling tired and defeated, Lila lay down next to Jack, tried to draw comfort from nestling against his body, and gave into the wave of exhaustion that swept over her.
41
When she eventually awoke, it took her a second to realise where she was, why she couldn’t move and could barely see, but then the terror and the helplessness all came flooding back, remembering how Aaron had kidnapped her, that Jack had tried to rescue her, but been badly injured, and that they were both going to die.
She had no idea how long she had been asleep for, the dark basement giving away no clues, but her head was heavy, suggesting it had been a while. Of course though the heaviness could be down to the drug Aaron had given her. If she had been out for hours, he and Judith would be coming for them soon.
Needing to do something, unable to bear waiting to die, knowing that she was Jack’s only hope for survival, Lila glanced around the room as her eyes adjusted, looking for some kind of weapon or even something she could use to cut through the rope around her wrists. It seemed the room really did only consist of the pool table and dartboard. Cues and balls wouldn’t help her, not unless she could get her hands free, but a dart was sharp. Although it was dark, she thought she could make out a couple stuck in the board, but even if she was right, she knew with her hands bound behind her and a broken leg that there was no way in hell she could reach them.
She glanced at the pool cues again, balancing against the table. Could she use one to knock a dart to the floor? It was a long shot, but it beat waiting around to die, and she had to try something.
Getting hold of the pool cue was the easy bit, shuffling over to where the dartboard was, while painful and slow going, was doable, but trying to balance the cue behind her the way her wrists were tied, her hands still slippery with Jack’s blood, was almost impossible and she repeatedly dropped it, each time finding it harder to get it in position again. The effort was exhausting and she was sweating from the exertion. After more than a dozen attempts, she gave up, swearing out loud, wanting to curl up in a ball and cry.
Jack desperately needed to get to the hospital. She had to keep trying. Ducking her head, she tried to wipe the sweat off her face with her shoulder, rubbed her bloody hands on the back of her dress as best as she could. She concentrated on picking up the pool cue again, trying her best to balance it as she aimed it up towards the dartboard. She felt it touch a dart, but as she tried to knock it off the board, the cue slipped through her fingers again.
Concentrate, Lila. You nearly had it.
She tried again, determined not to be discouraged, got herself in position, ignoring the strain between her shoulder blades, the rope cutting into h
er wrists. The cue wobbled and she thought it was going to slip then it touched a dart. Sweat rolled into her eyes and she tried to blink it away, and she took a second, nudged the dart gently then again a little harder when it didn’t budge. It dropped along with the cue and she lurched forward to avoid it hitting her, losing her balance and face palming the floor. The sharp end of the dart grazed the back of her bare leg. Her cheek was already stinging and swollen from where Aaron had punched her and smashing against the floor only added to the pain.
With some effort, she rolled over, managed to pull herself upright. She reached for the dart behind her, finally found it, bringing it up between her bound wrists. The way they were tied though there was no way she could reach to cut the rope.
Lila let out a cry of frustration. She had gone through all that effort for nothing.
On the floor in front of her she heard what sounded like a groan and her heart almost stopped, hoping, praying, that her ears weren’t playing tricks on her.
The following grunt confirmed to her they weren’t.
‘Jack?’
She shuffled back over to him, the dart still in her hands, ignoring the pain in her knees and broken leg. He wasn’t fully conscious, but he was more alert than he had been. Lila lay on the floor in front of him, getting her face as close to his as she could.
‘Jack, please wake up. I need you here with me. I can’t do this alone.’
There was nothing and she was beginning to wonder if she had imagined hearing him, then his eyes fluttered open, though his lids were heavy and she could see he was struggling to focus.
‘Jack?’
‘Lila? What…?’
‘Jack, focus on my voice. I’m going to figure out a way to get us out of this, I promise. Please, hold on. Stay with me. I can’t… I won’t lose you. I love you.’
She meant it. Intended to fight to the end, even though she knew the odds were stacked against them. And she did love him. Despite the text from Tiff, which had been such a huge deal earlier, and perhaps would still niggle if they managed to get out of this, he had tracked her down, tried to protect her. If they were going to die together, Lila was going to do so knowing that she loved Jack and believing that, in his own way, he loved her back.
He was silent, his eyes drifting shut and she held her breath. Come on, Jack. Several long seconds passed, but then he was back with her.
‘Tiff’s text.’
‘It doesn’t matter.’ Lila pressed her forehead against his, breathed in his scent, comforted by knowing he was there with her.
‘It’s not what… you think. She misread things. Lila, I… love you.’
His head slumped against hers and Lila stiffened. ‘Jack? Jack, please wake up.’
She couldn’t do this without him. Needed him with her.
‘Jack, please.’
He didn’t respond, his head heavy as it slumped against her shoulder, and tears pricked against the backs of her eyes again. She blinked them away furiously, knew she needed to pull herself together and be strong for them both.
She shuffled her way around him, laid down so they were back to back, felt for his hands. She might not be able to get herself free, but maybe she could loosen the rope around Jack’s wrists. Not that he was in a position to do anything, but at least she would be trying something.
Focussing on the sharp end of the dart, careful not to accidentally stab or cut him, she poked at the rope, for a long while worrying that she was wasting her time, but then feeling the twine start to give.
She was finally getting somewhere, the rope feeling like it was about to snap, when she heard a key turn in the lock at the top of the stairs, quickly hid the dart in her fist. With her eyes fully adjusted to the darkness of the basement, the sudden burst of light from the overhead bulb momentarily blinded her and she was still struggling to focus as Judith and Aaron made their way down the stairs.
‘We’ll get him out of here first then come back for the girl,’ Judith was instructing her son, talking to him as though Lila wasn’t even there.
She screamed at them to stop as they attempted to lift Jack, terrified that this was it and she wouldn’t see him again, earning herself a sudden and hard slap across the face from Judith.
‘Shut the hell up, you silly little bitch, or I’ll cut out your tongue.’
They couldn’t take him. What were they going to do to him?
Lila continued screaming, despite Judith’s threat, as she watched them struggle to get the weight of Jack’s body back up the stairs. Eventually though they managed it and the light went out again, the door locking.
Lila fought to get to the knots around her wrists again, but it was no use, the dart just wouldn’t reach. Feeling useless and defeated, knowing that she couldn’t save Jack, her screams turned into sobs that wracked through her body. There was nothing else she could do, but wait helplessly in the dark.
They were gone for what seemed like ages, her mind presenting awful scenarios of how Judith might kill them both. Foolishly Lila had thought she would be with Jack at the end, had managed to take a little comfort from that. Knowing she was now on her own terrified her.
When they eventually returned, she shuffled away from them, screaming and kicking out as Judith tried to grab hold of her. Although she knew she couldn’t beat them, Lila had no intention of making it easy for them.
‘Where’s Jack? What have you done with him?’
‘Jack is no longer a problem.’
When Lila screamed again, Judith caught her by the legs, pushing her to the ground and climbing on top of her. In her hands she held a scarf and Lila choked down on her fear, convinced the woman was going to use it to strangle her. As her face loomed nearer, Judith’s dark eyes boring into hers, Lila tried frantically to pull free.
The flashback when it came was sharp, clear and sudden.
Lila had jolted awake, took a second to realise she was in the car and it was filling fast with freezing cold water. The accident. Mark had been driving and they had hit another car. She remembered tyres skidding, bracing for the impact then darkness. Her head hurt and so did her chest and shoulder where it was pulling against the seat belt, and there was a sharp pain in her leg. She glanced at the driver’s seat. Although it was dark, she could see Mark was slumped against the wheel, his head twisted at a grotesque angle; his eyes open wide in horror, staring at her. He wasn’t moving and was pale, and it was then that Lila saw the piece of metal piercing through him and coming out of the back of his seat.
Even as the shock registered and she started screaming, her brain kicked into action.
What was it she had read about sinking cars? Getting the window open quickly was imperative. The water was nearly up to her chest, leaving her with precious little time. She tried the electric window switch, terror gripping her when it didn’t open. Panicking, she bashed at the glass with her elbow, realised it was too strong. She needed something to break the glass. Glancing around the car though she saw nothing that would help her. Then she remembered the safety video she had seen online. They had used the headrest.
After some struggling, Lila managed to pull the driver seat headrest free, smashed its metal poles against the window. It took several attempts but the glass finally shattered. Knowing she was fast running out of time, she went to pull herself out of the window, realised she was still wearing her seat belt.
Fuck!
As she fiddled with the buckle, the car submerged enough that water could pour through the open window, cursing loudly for forgetting to undo the seat belt at the outset, a scream pierced through the air. Was it the person in the other car?
The water was up to Lila’s neck, already nearly covering her mouth. Why wouldn’t the bloody seat belt unlock. Taking in a deep breath, holding it, she wriggled the belt, trying to give it some slack, clicked it again, tears of relief filling her eyes as it unlocked. Finally free, she pulled herself out of the window, managed to get to the surface as the car disappeared beneath her.
/> Up ahead she could see two other people in the water. It was too dark to make out their features clearly, but from the screaming she could tell they were female. At first Lila assumed they had been in the car together and swam closer, but then to her horror she realised they were actually fighting, that the older of the two seemed to be trying to hold down the other female. She had hold of a handful of her long blonde hair, was yanking the girl’s head back viciously and trying to duck her under the water.
What the fuck?
As the girl disappeared below the surface, Lila screamed at the woman. ‘What the hell are you doing? You’re going to kill her.’
The woman’s head snapped round, dark eyes locking on Lila’s.
The blonde girl resurfaced, choking on a mouthful of water. She spotted Lila, started screaming. ‘Help me, oh my God, please help…’
Her plea was cut off as her head disappeared again.
‘Hey!’ Despite her injuries, Lila managed to close the gap between them, knew she had to help the blonde girl before the woman drowned her.
Why the hell was she hurting her?
Panic rose when the blonde girl didn’t resurface, and Lila ducked beneath the water. The headlights of the sunken car illuminated the girl’s figure as she drifted towards the bed of the river, eyes closed and arms flailing upwards. Lila caught her hand, held on tightly as she tried to pull her to the surface, but despite her grip, the girl’s fingers slipped through hers.
Frustrated, Lila tried to go back down after her, realised she was almost out of breath and couldn’t manage it. As she returned to the surface for air, the woman who had been attacking the blonde girl caught hold of Lila’s head, pushing her back under the water. Caught off guard, Lila screamed, taking in a huge gulp of water, fighting against the hands that held her down. She eventually managed to break free, greedily sucking in air as she coughed and spluttered. From the bank of the river, she heard the slamming of a car door, a voice yelling, but before she could register, before she had barely taken her first gasp of air, the hands were around her throat, squeezing hard as they pushed her under again, the blackness swallowing her whole.